all,

i don’t watch that much TV anymore.  may catch a little of CNN, MSNBC or FOX to see what the pundits are covering and saying on a given day.   yes, i do watch sports on TV when i can.  especially hockey!  some golf, some tennis, some football, some soccer, and some baseball.  i will record to watch later 60 Minutes, Dancing with the Stars, and Madam Secretary.

but more likely nowadays i will use my TV to watch a series on Netflix or Amazon Prime.  i am still a rookie in this but what i have learned is that when i do get interested in a series, i binge watch it.  i can’t turn it off.

last night, a friday night, i started at 5pm to watch the new season of Goliath, having watched all the previous seasons.  i did not stop watching episodes of Season 3 until 2am in the morning.  i watched the entire season 3 in one seating.  i watched it for 9 straight hours.

i have never looked up the definition of binge watching, but i have to believe that what i did last night qualifies.

Goliath is really interesting.  set in Los Angeles for the first two seasons, the third season moves to the Central Valley of California, America’s breadbasket.  it has so many unusual and quirky characters in it, lead by Billy McBride who is played by Billy Bob Thornton.   he was at one point in his life a very successful lawyer in a well known law firm who started to hit the bottle a little too hard, which eventually meant the loss of his partnership, the creation of an enemy for life in his past partner, divorce, financial ruin, ending up in a flea bag motel in Santa Monica.  he now is trying to get his life back together and the drama is how this impaired brilliant at one time lawyer can rescue himself, the unusual people he has attracted around him, and the seemingly hopeless clients he represents.

what attracts me to the series is that i am always a sucker for the underdog and this series does not disappoint.  Billy McBride is always taking on a Goliath it seems.  but also i am fascinated by the scenery and background since it is located in LA and Southern California, which i know well and is effectively my second home.  the plot is intriguing too because you cannot predict what twist and turn it may take.  constantly the plot is surprising me.  and finally the characters are really unique and weird in a very interesting way.

is binge watching a good or bad thing?

i am not sure. at the time it is satisfying since you are able to really get into the plot and its sequencing.  you don’t have to wait for next week’s episode.  you can get your fix, another episode, right now.  you don’t have to wait.  that feels good and responds to a basic human desire for gratification here and now.  it is addictive.

however, the flip side of this binge watching is that you finish an entire season in one night.  the season is over in one night.  you have to wait another year for the next season.  you consumed it so fast that you were not able to fully absorb it.  at the end of it, as wonderful as it was, you feel let down.  what do you do for an encore?  you want more, and there is no more.  you are little depressed.  or at least that is the way i felt at 2am this morning.

so i am not sure what i think about binge watching.  one the one hand, i loved being able to keep watching a plot, episode after episode, develop.  on the other hand, i became depressed when it was over after just 9 hours.  there was no where to go.

what are your thoughts?